Between the Veil
by fricaiwyrda
Summary: SGA X-over. When Atlantis discovers a lab filled with research material on ascension, Dr. Daniel Jackson is brought to help filter through the information. But when he arrives at the city, he is in for a surprise. Jonas Quinn returns in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Okay, it's been a while for those of you who've read my stories before. I hadn't planned on returning to the Stargate universe for a while…but you know how that goes. This idea burst into my head, and I decided I couldn't deny anyone this little story. Okay…enough going on, let's get to the story. Hope you enjoy, and don't forget to review!

Chapter One

The active Stargate shone wavering blue light through the gate room and onto the faces of General Landry and the technicians in the control room. The General's attention was focused down at the computer display as he listened to the regular report from Atlantis.

Mr. Woolsey's voice was steadily without inflection as he worked his way through any and all events that had occurred on the Atlantis base since their last check in. As he reached the end, a specific word jumped out to catch General Landry's attention.

"—Dr. Jackson would be most welcome to visit and assist our scientists in the translations." Having not caught the first part of the statement, Landry was forced to interrupt.

"Pardon the interruption, Mr. Woolsey. Could you repeat that last statement? I'm sorry to say, my ears must not be what they used to, because I could have sworn you said something about Dr. Jackson going to visit." A heavy sigh came over the radio.

"Yes, General. I did offer for Dr. Jackson to lend his expertise to translating a device we've discovered within the city." Another sigh. "Since you most likely missed it, I will repeat the statement. A lab has been discovered in one of the outer quadrants of the city and from what our scientists can decipher, its function was research on ascension. There is a large amount of data stored there and, knowing how much Dr. Jackson is interested in this subject, I thought it prudent to extend the invitation. It would greatly help our translators, none of whom are as proficient in the language as the doctor."

Landry nodded to himself, knowing just as well how much Dr. Jackson would enjoy the opportunity. Since the defeat of the Ori, the doctor had made many requests to again visit the city of the ancients, all of which had been denied by the general. Not for any malicious reasons, but just that there were still things that needed Dr. Jackson's attention. Now seemed a perfect opportunity to finally grant the doctor's wish and let him visit.

"Thank you, Mr. Woolsey. I will be sure to let Dr. Jackson know as soon as possible. I know he'd be eager to help." Landry glanced at his watch; it was almost time for his lunch meeting with his daughter. In an attempt to repair the bonds of family, he had set up regular meetings with Carolyn, and their relationship seemed to be improving. He wouldn't want to ruin that now. "And if that is all, Mr. Woolsey, I have a meeting to attend to. Another fine report, I appreciate your attention to detail. I'll contact you again when we are ready to send Dr. Jackson to you." He motioned to the technician sitting below him, and the man deactivated the connection, shutting the Stargate down. Woolsey's spluttering complaint was cut off just as it had begun.

* * *

Daniel Jackson was in his lab packing an away bag with extra tape for an audio recorder, his camcorder, some notepads and a few reference books he'd compiled on the Ancient language and ascension. He heard a knock on the door right before an unmistakable southern voice rang out.

"Soo…Jackson. I hear you're taking a trip over to Atlantis." Daniel turned to see Colonel Mitchell swing around the doorframe and into his lab. The man tucked his hands in his pockets once he was in the room, and sauntered over to inspect Daniel's preparations. With one last glance, Daniel returned to his packing.

"Yep, it's been a while since I've been to the city." He paused, nodding. "The Lost City…that I helped find." Daniel shrugged. "But I'm going now, and not even Vala can stop me this time." He threw a surreptitious glance over at the doorway, half expecting Vala to appear with some crazy plan that would prevent him from leaving.

Mitchell chuckled. "Yeah, good thing she's off 'contacting friends'" He made quotation marks with his hands. "We all know she's back to her same old tricks. She shouldn't be back for at least another two weeks. You might even be back before her! Then she'd be none the wiser." Nodding absently, he strolled around the lab. Daniel nodded back, then looked up as Mitchell picked up a particularly fragile artifact.

"Was there something you needed?" Daniel asked, reaching out and snatching the endangered piece from out of the colonel's hands. He gingerly replaced it on its shelf. Mitchell shrugged.

"Nope, just stopping by. Soo…you taking anyone else with?" Mitchell asked, attempting and failing to sound casual about it.

"Why, did you want to come?" Daniel countered. Mitchell gave him a guilty look. "Well as far as I know, General Landry's only cleared me for the trip, and since there's no immediate danger, I don't see him authorizing an escort." Mitchell looked crestfallen.

"Oh, well…I guess you're right. I'm sure the duties roster will have something interesting for me to do until you get back." He began to stroll towards the door. Turning, he called back to Daniel. "Y'know, I never realized how boring things would be after we beat the bad guys." With that, he walked out and turned the corner out of sight. Daniel merely shook his head and finished packing.

* * *

Daniel stood in the gate room with his duffel bag of supplies and glanced back at the control room. His farewell committee didn't comprise of many people. Teal'c was away helping the Free Jaffa rebuild their homeworld, Vala was off…well, being Vala, Sam was working on a top secret project even General Landry didn't know about, so Daniel wouldn't be surprised if she never knew he'd gone. That left only Colonel Mitchell, General Landry, and the gate techs to see him off.

The Stargate was already activated and connected to Atlantis, and knowing how much juice it took to keep such a connection up, Daniel wasted no time. He waited till the General gave him the go-ahead that the shield had been shut down, and then he trudged purposely up the ramp and through the wormhole, not looking back. All that was on his mind was the excitement of once again being in the city of the Ancients.

After what felt like an eternity, but was in reality only a minute or so, Daniel stepped through the gate into the Atlantis gate room. Expecting some kind of welcome committee, he was surprised to see no one standing ready to usher him off. As a matter of fact, he couldn't see _anyone_ standing…_anywhere_. He looked around, glanced up at the control center and over to the conference room and then over to Mr. Woolsey's office. Nothing. Straining his ears, he couldn't hear a single thing either.

He walked toward the stairs as the gate shut down. Taking them two at a time, he hurried over to the control center and sat down in front of the dialing device. With expert hands, he punched the address for Earth and waited for the Stargate to activate. And waited…and waited. The chevrons would light, but no wormhole would appear. He was stuck here, and something was definitely wrong.

* * *

After the Stargate deactivated, General Landry turned to Mitchell as they both wandered out of the control room and up the stairs to the general's office. "You think he'll be all right over there?" The general asked.

"Ahhh, he'll be fine, sir!" Mitchell said, going to clap his arm around the man's shoulder, then stopping short. He dropped his hand lamely to his side.

"We tend to forget, colonel, but they're still fighting a war over there. The wraith could attack any moment, or who knows what else could happen!" Landry commented, stopping in the doorway to his office.

"Sir, I'd be surprised if he noticed anything at all while he's there. That's Daniel Disneyland, sir, and while he's working on that device there isn't a thing in the world that exists except for him and his work." Mitchell shrugged. "Only thing I'd be worried about is that we'll have to drag him away when the time comes." Nodding, he awaited the general's permission to leave.

General Landry nodded, reassured, back at him. "You're right, colonel. There's nothing to worry about with him on the case. Dismissed." He turned and walked into his office.

"Sir." Mitchell nodded, and wandered off to shoot some hoops before reporting to the duty officer to find out what he'd be doing while he waited for Dr. Jackson to come back.

* * *

A/N: Okay, short and sweet, I know. The next chapters should get longer, but this seemed the proper time to end this one. Just a note, this story takes place before Daniel's upcoming trip to Atlantis on the show. I hope it enticed you, and I hope you enjoyed it. Please feel free to leave a review to let me know what you thought.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, and to all of you who added this to your story alerts. I'm glad you found it enjoyable. Without further ado, here's chapter two!

Chapter 2

Daniel slumped down on the steps leading down to the gate, his duffel bag beside him. He rested his head in his hands. "Think, Daniel, think!" He said to himself, emphasizing each word with a light smack on the head. He glanced up at the gate, then back over to the control room. "Someone must have been here to shut down the shield, so either they're still here, or whatever happened, happened really fast."

Getting to his feet, he went back into the control room, looking at all the displays for something suspicious. Nothing jumped out at him. As a matter of fact, he even saw someone's computer that was displaying a game of tic tac toe, patiently waiting for the user to make their move. So…whatever happened did happen quickly. And seemingly without warning.

If it wasn't an attack by the Wraith, then what could it have been? An experiment gone wrong? "Wait!" Daniel exclaimed. "An experiment, the ancient lab!" With an almost skip in his step, Daniel raced out of the control room and down the steps to one of the side corridors. He slowed to a stop. "But, where _is_ the lab?" He realized he had no idea. But someone else would. "Dr. McKay! I just have to get to his lab, and see if he left anything there about the ancient lab." With his plan set, Daniel broke into a run in the direction of McKay's lab.

Twenty minutes later, he was no longer running, but walking dejectedly down corridor after corridor. "I could have sworn this was the way to McKay's lab!" He said for at least the fifth time. Throwing up his hands, he stopped in the middle of the hallway. "Why don't they have any signs in this place? If not, 'This way to Dr. McKay's lab' then at least a useful 'This way to newly discovered secret ancient lab'. Nothing is labeled here!"

Just as he was about to try and find his way back to the gate room, he thought he heard a noise coming from down the left hand corridor. "Is anybody there?" He called out. There was no response, but the sound continued. Words being said, but try as he might, Daniel couldn't catch what they were. Curious, he followed the sound down the left hand corridor. After another thirty to forty minutes, and several twists and turns, he was still following the sound, and yet he was no closer to reaching it.

He stopped in his tracks. "Okay, this makes absolutely no sense. I know for a fact that I would never have been able to hear something going on this far away from where I started, even if there was dead silence. Which there was…" Daniel shook his head. Suddenly, the sound seemed closer, just around the next bend. Surprised, Daniel stepped forwards, then stopped. "No, something is definitely messing with me. Sound doesn't bend around corners and keep its direction, and it _definitely_ doesn't suddenly jump closer." He frowned. "It's as if someone is trying to lead me somewhere. And they obviously don't want me to stop. But where?"

From around the corner, clear as day, Daniel suddenly heard, "McKay's lab." It was a whisper, and as soon as it was said, the murmuring continued. The voice had been female, but not one he recognized. Daniel shivered a bit, then moved towards the turn.

"Well, if someone wants to take me to McKay's lab, I'm not going to argue. Lead on, stranger!" Hoping to catch a glimpse of his mysterious guide, Daniel jumped around the corner, expecting to see someone standing right in front of him. Instead, all he saw was an empty corridor, and the noise had moved down to just past the end of this corridor. Shaking his head, Daniel followed.

* * *

"Unscheduled offworld activation!" the PA system blared with Harriman's voice as the red lights flashed. Dropping the filing he'd been doing, Colonel Mitchell rushed down to the control room. When he got there, he saw that General Landry was already there, conversing with the technician.

"It's a radio transmission, sir." Harriman said. The general turned to see Mitchell, and motioned him over, nodding to the technician as he did. The man pushed a few buttons, and a voice rang out through the speakers.

"—from Langara, we are requesting relief support. I repeat, Stargate Command, this is emissary Jonas Quinn from Langara, requesting relief support." The man's voice sounded a bit harried, but not urgent.

CMS Harriman glanced back at General Hammond. "It's Jonas Quinn, sir! He worked with us for a while after Dr. Jackson…" He trailed off.

"I know, Chief. I've read the files. Can we respond?" The other man nodded, pushing more buttons. "Jonas Quinn, this is General Landry of Stargate Command. What type of relief support are you requesting?"

"General…Landry?" Jonas' voice came back, a bit surprised.

"Yes, I assumed command of the base after General O'Neill." Landry replied, understanding the confusion.

"_General_ O'Neill?" Jonas' asked, this time incredulous.

Landry sighed, "Yes, he was promoted to general several years ago and briefly took command of the base. General Hammond now works for homeworld security." Silence greeted him from the other end of the connection. "You said you needed some relief support. The last reports we had of your planet had it overtaken by Ori. I'm assuming that is no longer the case?"

"No, no the priors suddenly had a change of heart about a year ago, but some of their followers didn't. We've been in a state of civil war for months, but the fighting has finally stopped. We're trying to rebuild and start over, but we could use some help." Jonas explained.

"We'd be glad to offer it Mr. Quinn. I can send some engineers and doctors over to assess the damage. If you feel comfortable leaving your people's care in their hands, I'd be happy to extend an invitation for you to come to the SGC and we can draw up a more permanent plan." Landry was interested to see the man who had, from all reports, done such a fine job in the frontline team during Dr. Jackson's absence.

"Thank you, general. I'd be happy to come and visit the SGC again. We have quite a bit to discuss." With that, the gate shut down, and General Landry began organizing a medical team and engineering team to send over to Langara as soon as possible. Once they were there, he planned on having one of them escort Jonas Quinn back to the SGC. He was surprised that Jonas had instinctively known he wouldn't be allowed to just come across on his own, but on further consideration, he had worked at the SGC for a year. The man had probably witness many such situations as this.

Mitchell finally spoke up. "So we send Jackson off to Atlantis, and get Jonas Quinn in return, huh?" He shrugged. "Sounds good to me!"

* * *

A/N: Yes, I know, this one ended up being shorter than the first. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it, and please don't forget to review!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Again, thanks for the reviews, I'm glad you are enjoying this story. Pardon if this chapter seems a bit odd, I'm writing it as I babysit. Don't worry, I'm not too distracted. Now, on with the show.

Chapter 3

The voice stopped just behind a door among many. Daniel walked up to the door, and activated the sensors, making it open. Just as the door was opening, he heard the same female voice whisper, "McKay's lab" and then all the murmuring stopped. As the doors finished opening, he saw the computer screens and various machines that occupied McKay's lab. It looked not unlike Sam's old lab, albeit with a bit better technology.

Turning around, he saw no one in the room. But just in case, he called out to his mysterious benefactor. "Thank you!" A slight breeze brushed past his face and then was gone. Nodding, he got to work looking for anything referring to the lab they had discovered.

* * *

Jonas Quinn stepped through the Stargate with his SG team escort, quickly relaxing into the old rhythm as he walked down the ramp to meet the commander of the base. But instead of the friendly old Texan, General Hammond, to greet him, there was a tall man with a head of hair, who seemed a bit more stern than his predecessor. This must be General Landry.

The general extended a welcoming hand, and Jonas shook it. Standing next to him was a young man who had the same look of bravado on him that Jonas remembered in O'Neill. The general motioned to the man. "Jonas Quinn, this is Colonel Cameron Mitchell. He's currently the leader of SG-1." The young man extended his hand and shook Jonas'.

"You can just call me Cam." The man said in a southern drawl that reminded Jonas of Hammond, but was slightly different. "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Quinn."

"Just call me Jonas." Jonas replied, giving a fleeting smile. He glanced around, expecting to see other faces that were more familiar. "Has everyone else moved on as well?" He asked, confused. Both Mitchell and Landry glanced at each other and back to him, realization finally dawning on their faces.

"Oh, you mean the rest of SG-1!" Cam said, snapping his finger. "Yeah, well Teal'c's off doing his Free Jaffa thing, Sam's off on some top secret project, Vala's…well you wouldn't know Vala, would you?" He rambled on, then stopped, a frown on his face. Landry just stared at him.

Jonas shook his head. "No, I've never heard of anyone named Vala. When did she join the team?" He was beginning to realize that things had changed much more than he had expected in the time since he'd been a part of SG-1.

"Oh, about the same time I did, actually. She's an alien, like you!" Cam said, grinning. Jonas frowned at the word alien. "Well, I mean, she's not from Earth…" Mitchell trailed off. Luckily, Landry saved the day.

"I'm sure we can continue catching you up on the events in our corner of the galaxy as soon as you get checked out by our medical team. If you don't mind?" The general asked, motioning toward the doorway. Jonas nodded.

"Not at all, General." Jonas replied amiably. "It's been a while, but I'm sure Dr. Frasier will remember me. I'm looking forward to seeing her again." The other two men glanced uncomfortably at each other. Jonas didn't notice. "By the way, what about Dr. Jackson?" He asked casually as the three walked down the hallway toward the infirmary.

"Dr. Jackson has just left for Atlantis to help with some ascension research they've recently discovered." General Landry said, glancing back at Jonas. "He won't be back for at least a few days, I'm guessing. He's due to check in with us in an hour or so to let us know a more exact timetable."

Mitchell clapped an arm around Jonas' shoulder. "You just missed him! I'm sure he'll be happy to hear from you when he dials in, though." A bit uncomfortable with the man's enthusiasm, Jonas nodded.

* * *

A grin slowly formed on Daniel's face as he read through the personal record files of Dr. Rodney McKay. He had to hand it to the man, McKay was thorough. But he was also a bit full of himself, even in his personal records. In the passage Daniel was reading, Dr. McKay was waxing on about his ingenious networking of all of his personal computers, so that his records would be up to date no matter what console he was using.

He read through the entry describing the discovery of the lab, by a security team on a sweep for damaged quadrants after a bad storm blew through the city. They'd opened the room, found a lot of powered down consoles and displays and a suspicious device, and immediately notified the commander. Within an hour or so, McKay and his team of scientists were there, shooing off the military men to prevent them from "damaging anything".

It seemed they had powered up the database and had realized the treasure trove they were sitting on, and kindly stopped to bring him in for some extra support. Then he got to the final entry in the records. It started out with McKay saying they had decided to power up the device, not being patient enough to wait till Daniel got there, since his expertise was language, not technology.

They had no idea what the device did, any more than Daniel would have, but that didn't seem to bother McKay. They activated the device, then the door to the room shut and sealed on its own, and there was a flash…and that's where McKay's report suddenly broke off, not even a completed sentence.

Daniel frowned. "Yes, this definitely looks like a case of experiment gone wrong." He mused. "But what happened? Something in that room caused everyone to disappear or…?" Shaking his head, Daniel set the console he was reading down. "Well, at least McKay left details about where the lab is. I'm just going to have to go down there and find out." He got up and left the room, walking down the hallway to the nearest transport.

Scanning the map of Atlantis inside the transport, Daniel found the section he was looking for and lightly tapped it with his finger. A flash of light and he turned around to see the doors opening onto yet another deserted corridor, this time much closer to the epicenter of the problem. Stepping out, and with a final glance back at the map of Atlantis to get his bearings, Daniel set off for the lab.

* * *

A/N: Okay, sorry about the later post, I had a long day yesterday babysitting. It's a bit of an in-between chapter, but hopefully it fills in a few holes, and is entertaining enough to last you until the next chapter. Don't forget to review to let me know what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry for the later post, was a bit under the weather the other day. But here it is, as asked for, chapter 4! Don't forget to review and tell me what you think!

**Chapter 4**

Daniel stood before a shut door, glancing down the hallway in both directions. "This _should_ be the right room. Still no label, but…" He shrugged, then tried the door sensor. Nothing happened. He waved his hand again, and the door lethargically responded. A burst of stale air came out, showing him a dark room with a glowing device in the center.

Intrigued, he stepped through the doorway, feeling a strange tugging on his sleeve for a moment, as if someone was trying to hold him back. Shaking it off, he forged onward into the dark room. Glancing around, he realized the room was empty. "Well, that's odd." He checked more thoroughly. "Where's Dr. McKay and the other scientists then?" Daniel frowned. "The same place everyone else is, probably. But where is that?" He turned to look at the device sitting on the single counter in the room.

It was glowing with a yellow light, and seemed rather small for…whatever it was. Its shape was vaguely pyramidal, but with rounded corners on the bottom. Ancient script wrapped around the device, covering every surface. One particular character jumped out at him. It seemed that the script was written in an older dialect, one in which characters also represented ideas as well as phonetic sounds. This particular character was larger than the rest, and represented the concept of hidden knowledge. "Hmm…maybe this can shed some light on what's going on." He reached out to touch the symbol.

A wind blew from out of nowhere behind him, and he startled, his finger jarring forward and tapping the symbol. Suddenly, the door to the chamber slid shut and he heard a low moan. "Noooo…." He recognized the female voice from before. The room had gone dark, but then the device began to glow again, this time an eye-searing white. As he watched, the top slowly unfurled, like a flower bud opening. Then the light flared, emitting a shockwave that knocked him over. His head impacted sharply with an abandoned tablet PC when he hit the ground, knocking him unconscious. On the screen, a blinking cursor waited next to the word "flash" for the owner to finish his statement.

In the darkness that followed, a white light blossomed near Daniel's prone form. Tentacles waving in an imaginary breeze, one reached out and barely touched his face. "I tried to warn you." The same female voice from before whispered, before it and the light faded away.

* * *

Sitting in the briefing room, Jonas waited for the General to return. He had been called away suddenly, cutting short their discussion on relief efforts. Jonas took the time to think on everything that had changed since his stay here. He had been truly surprised to see an unfamiliar face when he entered the infirmary. The woman, Dr. Lam, he was told, was much more businesslike than her predecessor, and barely talked to her patient. He had gotten up the courage by the end to ask her where Dr. Frasier was, only to have her glance uncomfortably over at the general and Colonel Mitchell. Finally, General Landry took pity on him and spoke.

"I'm sorry, Jonas, but Dr. Frasier died several years ago during a medical rescue. I wasn't here at the time, but I'm told that her funeral service was very moving." The General said, hoping to give consolation to the man.

"What about Cassandra?" Jonas asked, worried about what had happened to Janet's adopted daughter.

"Cassandra was a teenager at the time, as far as I know, she's doing well. Colonel Carter still keeps in contact with her more than I do, perhaps when she gets back you two can talk about it."

Dr. Lam interrupted. "I'm finished here, sir. All the preliminaries are normal; I'll notify you when the rest of the tests come in." She nodded briskly and moved off to another patient. Landry absently nodded back, then put a more cheery look on his face.

"Why don't we get to the briefing room and start drawing up plans for your relief support?" Landry gestured out the door. "This way." He strode off towards the briefing room, as Mitchell and Jonas fell in line behind him.

Jonas was brought out of his reverie when General Landry rushed back into the room, a concerned look on his face. Jonas pushed out of his chair and took a step towards the general. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Dr. Jackson missed his scheduled check in. We opened up a connection to Atlantis to see if there was anything wrong, and no one answered." The general gripped the back of the chair he was standing behind.

"Well, why don't you just send a MALP to see what's going on?" Jonas asked, curious as to why the general hadn't thought of it already.

Landry shook his head. "No, the Atlantis gate has a force shield around their Stargate that acts like our iris. Nothing would get through unless there was someone there to manually shut it down."

Jonas filed that information away for later. "Okay then, well…what if the reason we can't contact them is that their power is out? In which case their force shield wouldn't work, right?" he shot a questioning glance at Landry. The general nodded agreeably. "Well then there's no harm in sending a MALP through to check things out! And if it turns out I was wrong, we'll know for sure!" Jonas nodded decisively, glad to be back solving problems that didn't involve politics for once.

"You're right, it's worth a try." General Landry said, releasing his death-grip on the chair and heading down towards the control room. "Let's go down and test it." Jonas followed obligingly down to the control room with him.

Landry spoke to a technician and the man ran off to get the MALP ready and in the gate room. While they waited for the probe, Landry attempted several more times to contact someone in Atlantis, broadcasting on all frequencies. There was no reply. The two watched the approach of the MALP into the gate room with a heavy heart. The outcome looked grim.

When the technicians in the gate room gave the thumbs up that everything was ready, Landry gave the order to Harriman to dial the gate. All seven chevrons locked with no difficulty, and the Stargate activated. Landry nodded to the technicians below. One of them remote controlled the probe up the ramp and through the puddle. Everyone in the control room held their breath, eyes locked on the monitors. Moments later, a picture showed up on the screen, as the MALP moved into the Atlantis gate room. Jonas wasn't sure whether he should sigh with relief or be worried.

"Pan the camera around, let's get a better look." The general said to the technician controlling the MALP's camera functions. The camera obediently panned left and right, and inclined its angle to see up to the Atlantis control room. There was no one in sight, but the power seemed to be on. "Well, if the power's on, who deactivated the shield?" Landry mused. Jonas shook his head in confusion.

Spurred into action, Landry turned to Harriman. "Shut it down. If something's happened on Atlantis, we need to get a team ready to investigate. I can't justify sending a large contingent, not when we don't know what they're heading in to. It'll have to be a small SG team." Harriman nodded and shut down the gate.

Jonas thought for a moment. "If you'll let me, I'd like to volunteer to join the team on the rescue mission, general." Here was another opportunity to make amends for everything he'd unwittingly done to Dr. Jackson. He knew that Daniel didn't blame him for anything that had happened, but it didn't change the fact that he blamed himself. He would do everything he could to get the doctor back.

Seeing the determination in the man's eyes, Landry nodded. "Of course you can join the team; your expertise may be invaluable. And I can understand your wish to safeguard what remains of the SGC you knew." The general clapped a hand on Jonas' shoulder. "I'll let you know when I have a team assembled, if you'd like to go get some rest in one of our VIP rooms."

Jonas nodded, realizing how tired he really was. "Yes, thank you. I guess I could use some sleep." Landry called over an airman and told them to take Jonas to one of the VIP rooms. As Jonas followed the airman out of the control room, he glanced back to see the frenzied action of the general and the technicians. Concern was evident on every face. Daniel Jackson was truly loved at the SGC, of this there was no doubt.

* * *

A/N: Thank you for your patience, I hadn't been feeling well for the past few days, and on top of that, was working through a problem with my computer. I hope this chapter satisfies, and please don't forget to review and let me know what you thought! By the way, the beginning authors note was written when I first started this chapter a few days ago.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Again, apologies to those of you anxiously awaiting the next chapter, I'm such a horrible procrastinator! Okay, well I'm very thankful for all your reviews, and I hope this _satisfies_ your curiosities (and your Daniel danger meter). Please enjoy!

**Chapter 5**

Cam Mitchell burst into General Landry's office, not even thinking twice or noticing the other person in the room. "Sir! I want to join the team that's going to Atlantis!" Breathless, he stopped and finally took a good look around. Jonas Quinn was sitting in the chair opposite the general, but both had gotten up in surprise at Mitchell's entry. "Sorry, sir. I'll come back later." He belatedly apologized.

"No, no, Mitchell. You can stay." Landry settled back in his chair as Jonas reluctantly did the same. "We were just talking about the planned mission. Jonas has volunteered to go with the team. I had already planned on having you head the investigation." Mitchell sighed in relief. "Now we need to decide who else should go." Landry made an open-armed gesture. "I'm open for suggestions."

Leaning against the door frame, Mitchell suddenly had a thought. "Let's get the team back together!" He said, pushing off from the wall. "We can call up Teal'c, I'm sure he'd be fine leaving the Free Jaffa for a while. Then we just need to get Sam in here…" Landry stopped him with a hand.

"I'm sorry, colonel. But you know that Colonel Carter is away on a project right now. I don't even know how to contact her, so unfortunately she can't be involved." Mitchell opened his mouth to protest. "Why don't we just work on contacting Teal'c, and then deal with the final member of the team after."

Mitchell nodded reluctantly. He wanted to go save Jackson's butt as soon as possible, but he understood plans had to be made. They wouldn't want to go walking into a trap unprepared. He glanced over and saw Jonas giving him a tentative smile. He nodded back.

"Well, if that's settled…we should get to the control room and contact Teal'c. Dismissed." General Landry said, getting up and following the other two out of his office.

* * *

Before he opened his eyes, Daniel tried to figure out why he felt like his skull was cracked open. And on fire. Tentatively moving his fingers, he was at least happy to notice they seemed to be functioning fine. Lifting his arm slowly, he reached up to his head and felt around for the gaping crack he was sure had to be there. Daniel was pleasantly surprised to find his head seemed to be intact, but then where was the agonizing pain coming from? And then he found it.

"Ahh!" He hissed, instinctively swinging up into a sitting position and snapping his eyelids up. Then a huge rushing came to his ears and he felt like expelling his nonexistent lunch and passing out intermittently. Taking several deep breaths, eyes closed again, the rushing in Daniel's ears faded and he began to feel better. His head was still a problem though.

Knowing what he was looking for this time, Daniel carefully searched with his fingertips along the back of his head, until he found the sticky spot where his hair was matted. Grimacing, he gingerly explored it, hoping there wasn't any major damage. The bleeding seemed to have stopped, and it didn't feel like too deep a cut. Sighing in relief, Daniel opened his eyes once more, to find out what had given him such a painful injury.

Twisting around in his seated position, Daniel's eyes rested on the tablet PC. Intrigued, he reached out and pulled it toward him. A telltale mark of blood on the corner revealed the culprit to his head injury. Frowning, he wiped it off with his finger and took a closer look at what was displayed on the screen.

_We're turning the device on now, and…okay, it just emitted a flash_

And that's where it stopped, only a blinking cursor waiting for the owner to continue typing. Realizing what this was, Daniel sat up straighter. "This must be McKay's PC. Looks like he dropped it when the device flashed." He sat and thought for a second. "An understandable response, but then where is he now?" Finally getting up, Daniel surveyed his surroundings.

The room was exactly as he had left it, before unexpectedly going unconscious. The device was sitting on its counter, glowing now in a throbbing white. Slowly getting to his feet, Daniel felt another rush of blood to his head, but managed to keep himself together. He walked toward the door to the chamber, which had shut when he activated the device. Waving his hand in front of the censor, he was unsurprised when it didn't respond to his movement. "So, the door is sealed. And now I'm locked in a room with no food or water, a head injury and no medical supplies…and a vast database of unknown Ancient research. What am I thinking?" He strode over to the nearest console.

Sadly, the console remained dark, along with the data screen. "Y'know, with how much I wanted to be here in Atlantis, you'd think I would have invested in a little bit of gene therapy." Daniel shook his head morosely. "This is just torture! The solution to whatever the hell is going on here is probably right inside this database, and I can't even read it!"

He paced the room for a while, McKay's PC now clutched in his hand. Sighing, he walked over to the counter and slumped down to the floor, his back leaning against it and his head facing the door. "Air circulation might be another problem, judging from the stale air I found in here when I came in. Best not waste it all…" Placing the tablet down on the floor, he gingerly put his head in his hands. "Why me…why is it _always_ me?"

Daniel heard a noise and got to his feet, turning around. As he was getting up, he thought he heard something whispered into his ear. "Because you can solve it." He swiveled around to check towards the door, expecting to see someone, but there was no one there. Returning his attention to the database consoles, he realized they were now powered up and humming contentedly at him. He walked around the table where the device lay and approached the consoles.

"Okay…that happened." Deciding not to dwell on the how for the time being, Daniel looked excitedly at the data screen, not knowing where to start. About ready to start reading the first entry in the database, he stopped and turned his head a bit. "Thank you!" He called out, hoping that whoever or whatever was helping him could hear. Shaking his head, he returned to his reading. "Just my luck, I'll be imagining this whole thing." He muttered to himself.

* * *

A/N: Okay, a bit shorter than I was planning, but I didn't want to split the next scene. Hope you enjoyed, and please don't forget to review to tell me what you think!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Apologies for the wait, my brother borrowed my computer for a while…and now my spacebar doesn't work half the time…oy. Anywho, thanks for the reviews, hope this story still interests you, and enjoy the next chapter!

**Chapter 6**

Teal'c stood in the Stargate chamber on the Free Jaffa's new homeworld and focused his attention at the MALP that sat in front of the Stargate. He was in his diplomat robes, as were the other Jaffa from the council that had followed him here. They conversed in whispers as he spoke to the man on the other side of the shimmering wormhole.

"This is grave news." He said, after being told of the fate of Daniel Jackson and the entire Atlantis expedition. "Do you require my assistance in the investigation?" General Landry's voice came across in response.

"Yes, thank you, Teal'c. I was about to ask you just that favor. If it isn't too much trouble, I know you and the other Jaffa are very busy with establishing your new homeworld."

Teal'c shook his head. "It is no trouble, General Landry. Daniel Jackson is a good friend and would do the same for me. Atlantis is vulnerable to attack right now, and we must act to return its residents before it is too late." He nodded decisively. "I will join your team on the mission." Teal'c heard happy noises in the background, and a voice that sounded like Colonel Mitchell's commenting happily about "getting the band back together". He smiled. "I, too look forward to working with you again, Colonel Mitchell." Laughter sounded from the SGC.

"Okay, Teal'c. Go ahead and finish your preparations and we'll be expecting you back soon. Thank you for lending your help." The General sounded very sincere, Teal'c could imagine the worry that everyone at the SGC was going through.

"It is my honor to help you, General Landry. I will see you soon." With that, the connection was severed and the gate shut down. Turning away from the MALP, Teal'c noticed the looks on the faces of his fellow Jaffa.

"Teal'c, do you really think it wise to be leaving while we are still in the midst of relocation?" A female Jaffa asked him, stepping to the front of the group. The other Jaffa nodded their agreement. Teal'c looked around at them, staring each in the eye.

"The Tau'ri helped us get to where we are now, and now they need my help. How could I in good conscience say no?" It seemed his words were getting through to the others. "Many of you have never met my friends of the Tau'ri, but of those of you that have, think on this. Daniel Jackson has done much for us, and has saved my life many times. I would gladly return the favor if given the opportunity."

The woman who had spoken backed away as the others nodded. "You are correct as always, Teal'c. It is only right that you help our allies. May your mission be a success, and come back to us soon." An older man on the council said, clapping a hand on Teal'c's shoulder.

Thanking them all and saying his farewells, Teal'c went off to prepare himself to return to the SGC.

* * *

General Landry was in the cafeteria with his daughter when the alarm went off. "Unscheduled offworld activation!" Exchanging surprised looks, they both stood up and hurried to the control room, leaving their food forgotten at their table. When they both got to the control room, Landry noticed that Mitchell and Jonas were already there.

"Do we have an IDC code yet?" Landry shot the question at Harriman. The man turned to look at him, a surprised look on his face.

"It's an SG-1 code, sir." Was all Harriman could manage to say. The general frowned, then nodded.

"It's probably Teal'c coming in from the new Jaffa homeworld. I didn't think he'd be showing up this soon!" He looked over at Carolyn, who was exchanging a shrug with Mitchell.

"Well you know how protective he can get about Jackson, sir." Mitchell piped up. "He probably dropped everything to get over here in time." They all heard someone clear his throat and they turned to see Harriman looking expectantly at the general.

"Oh, yes. I apologize. Open the iris." General Landry hurriedly said, surprised that he had forgotten that little detail. As the iris opened, all eyes turned toward the Stargate. A moment later, a figure stepped through.

"Out on a coffee break or something? You know, it's not wise to keep a lady waiting." A silky smooth voice said, a bit of sarcasm in the tone. You could have heard a pin drop in the silence that followed. Recovering, Mitchell snatched the microphone in the control room and spoke through it.

"Vala?! What are you _doing_ here?" He wasn't sure whether to be happy to see her or angry that she'd shown up unannounced. "You were supposed to be gone for another week at least!"

"You can't very well expect a girl to stand by while her Daniel is thrown in peril, can you?" She shrugged as she descended the ramp. "I heard the news and came right over. Nobody messes with my Daniel." She paused. "Now when are we leaving?"

* * *

After several hours of sifting through entry after entry in the database, Daniel stepped back and leaned against the counter in the center of the room. Pinching his finger on the bridge of his nose, he sighed. "This could take a while."

Sliding into a sitting position, he tried to organize what he knew. "Okay, so this database holds research material on the experiments done on the ascension device." Daniel absently pointed behind him at the still glowing pyramid. "It all seems to be logged under the name of Arai, who presumably was the scientist who invented the device." He frowned and got up to take a look at a particular entry he'd noticed. "But something doesn't seem right. There's no mention of actually creating the device, just the experiments done after the fact." He shrugged. "Maybe it's just a case of missing files."

Fed up with sitting still, Daniel got up and began to pace. "It seems like the device acts as some type of aid to the ascension process, possibly an enhancer to mental capacity." A thought came to him. "Does that mean…?" He stopped in his tracks. "Could the entire Atlantis expedition been enhanced to ascension? The device might require the participants to be ascended before shutting down, but then, since it was still glowing, maybe they're not completely ascended yet. I know I'm not!" He said matter-of-factly.

"But where are they then?" It seemed that really was the million dollar question here. A question he intended to find the answer to. Suddenly he yawned. "I haven't slept in who knows how long, and the database is still going to be here when I get up. I should get some rest." With a sigh, he lay down between the counter and the database and within moments was asleep.

* * *

Watching the man, she was reminded so much of herself. Working toward a solution until she dropped with exhaustion. She hoped he wouldn't make the same mistake she had, she hoped he would see what she couldn't have guessed.

She had been blind back then, just as the arrogant man, the one he called Dr. McKay, had been when he activated the device. He hadn't been able to see her, but this man was different. She could sense something in him, something that set him apart. Maybe he could fix what she had done, so that they could all be free.

"Help me." She whispered to him. "Help me fix this." He frowned in his sleep, shifting and cradling his head a bit. His concussion was getting worse, she could tell, but could she risk healing it? No, he would be fine for now, and if he solved the problem it wouldn't matter anyway.

With an inward sigh, she settled down to wait for him to wake, casting her senses out through the city, searching for any danger. She could feel the others here too, the people who had been living here. They were lost, hopelessly lost, unless this poor exhausted man could find the solution to the problem that had been vexing her for thousands of years. He had a lot to do when he woke up…

* * *

A/N: I know, I know, a bit too dramatic perhaps on the ending. Well there it is, and I apologize again for the wait. It was quite the painstaking work to make sure all the spaces were in like I wanted. Should really clean my keyboard! I hope you enjoyed it, and be sure to tell me what you thought!


End file.
